What do I need to conserve power on my old Linux box?
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From: ANTant on 31 Oct 2006 16:12 Hello, Electricity is sure getting expensive these days, especially during the summer time ($500 per month!). I would like to see if I can keep my little 24 hours/7 days Linux desktop/workstation (also acts like a private server, so I can ssh/VNC in from outside) from using a lot of power/electrcity when in idled mode. Currently, I told xscreensaver (using xmatrix at slow rate -- loved the first two Matrix movies!) to put my monitor to sleep and shut down after an hour and two hours. I do not use those 3D screen savers since they hog my 3D card and CPU, and my room gets too warm easily. Is there anything else to cool down? Should I really spin my HDDs down (is that a good idea and is it slow to spin up if I need it?). I heard about athcool utility, but it sounds scary since it can cause problems, data losses, etc. I really don't have the time to mess with it and deal with any problems that it might cause. I think in my BIOS, I turned off ACPI(?) and APM. Do I need these enabled? How can I check if I have the required components installed in my Debian and what do I need (apt-get install). FYI, here is my sensors -f during mostly idled and using the box via SSH: $ sensors -f w83697hf-isa-0290 Adapter: ISA adapter VCore: +1.63 V (min = +1.71 V, max = +1.89 V) ALARM +3.3V: +3.25 V (min = +3.14 V, max = +3.47 V) +5V: +4.97 V (min = +4.76 V, max = +5.24 V) +12V: +12.04 V (min = +10.82 V, max = +13.19 V) -12V: -11.87 V (min = -13.18 V, max = -10.80 V) -5V: +3.49 V (min = -5.25 V, max = -4.75 V) ALARM V5SB: +5.43 V (min = +4.76 V, max = +5.24 V) ALARM VBat: +3.54 V (min = +2.40 V, max = +3.60 V) fan1: 0 RPM (min = 10546 RPM, div = 2) ALARM fan2: 2311 RPM (min = 1662 RPM, div = 4) temp1: +100 F (high = +212 F, hyst = +32 F) sensor = thermistor temp2: +129.2 F (high = +176 F, hyst = +167 F) sensor = thermistor alarms: Chassis intrusion detection ALARM beep_enable: Sound alarm enabled My detailed computer specifications can be found here: http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm/about/computers.txt (secondary/backup computer). I also tried not to have too much stuff in my PC case. The only extra thing is I have is NIC since I don't trust the onboard VIA NIC. :) Thank you in advance. -- "The ants sought personal revenge for my having sprayed them the day before." --Oliver Smith /\___/\ / /\ /\ \ Phillip (Ant) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site) | |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net \ _ / Please remove ANT if replying by e-mail. ( )
From: Michael Black on 31 Oct 2006 16:25 (ANTant(a)zimage.com) writes: > Hello, > > Electricity is sure getting expensive these days, especially during the summer time ($500 per month!). I would > like to see if I can keep my little 24 hours/7 days Linux desktop/workstation (also acts like a private server, > so I can ssh/VNC in from outside) from using a lot of power/electrcity when in idled mode. Currently, I told > xscreensaver (using xmatrix at slow rate -- loved the first two Matrix movies!) to put my monitor to sleep and > shut down after an hour and two hours. I do not use those 3D screen savers since they hog my 3D card and CPU, and > my room gets too warm easily. Figure out what is using up so much power, and address those issues. If your power is higher in the summer, then surely it's air conditioning, and if you cut that back, it would do more than fiddling with a computer. Change the lights to compact flourescent bulbs, especially lights left on a lot, so their drain is down. Switch off the monitor when it's not being used, because then you are eliminating a drain that isn't necessary. Learn about wattage, so you can see what's using the power rather than think your computer is the big drain. Small reductions won't make a difference, unless you have a house really lit up with loads of equipment on all the time in every room. Michael
From: Jack Snodgrass on 31 Oct 2006 16:26 On Tue, 31 Oct 2006 15:12:13 -0600, ANTant wrote: > Hello, > > Electricity is sure getting expensive these days, especially during the summer time ($500 per month!). I would > like to see if I can keep my little 24 hours/7 days Linux desktop/workstation (also acts like a private server, > so I can ssh/VNC in from outside) from using a lot of power/electrcity when in idled mode. Currently, I told > xscreensaver (using xmatrix at slow rate -- loved the first two Matrix movies!) to put my monitor to sleep and > shut down after an hour and two hours. I do not use those 3D screen savers since they hog my 3D card and CPU, and > my room gets too warm easily. > > Is there anything else to cool down? Should I really spin my HDDs down (is that a good idea and is it slow to > spin up if I need it?). I heard about athcool utility, but it sounds scary since it can cause problems, data > losses, etc. I really don't have the time to mess with it and deal with any problems that it might cause. > > I think in my BIOS, I turned off ACPI(?) and APM. Do I need these enabled? How can I check if I have the required > components installed in my Debian and what do I need (apt-get install). FYI, here is my sensors -f during mostly > idled and using the box via SSH: I've dramatically cut down noise and heat in my 24/7 servers setup. The biggest think I did was move my 'archive' data ( pics, videos, old logs, etc... things I need but not need 24/7 ) to drives that only contain those things. Then I set then up to automount only when needed. When they are unmounted ( and the file systems are unmounted cleanly ) I use hdparm to spin them down. 90% of the time, my 2TB NAS box only had 200gig or so spinning, using electricity and generating heat. In addition, I enabled the AMD cool-n-quiet features of my CPUs ( had to do a BIOS update on my motherboard ) so my CPUs run at 41% of capacity unless they do something like a compile or video processing. They run cooler and the fan spins down to 40% of max. Generates less heat and noise... uses less electricity. Lastly... I got a $7 CPU fan contoller and put it on my one box that does not have the capability to reduce it's fan speed. I manually cranked that one down and monitor it's Temp via the sensors command. The lower fan speed seems to keep it plenty cool. Now... ( compared to what it used to be ) you can barely hear the 3 servers ( amd 4600+, 3800+, 3200+ and 3TB of drives ) when you are in my office. The heat is GREATLY reduced too. I was planning on moving one server to a different part of the house to spread out the heat, but now it's no longer necessary. jack -- D.A.M. - Mothers Against Dyslexia see http://www.jacksnodgrass.com for my contact info. jack - Grapevine/Richardson
From: Unruh on 31 Oct 2006 16:54 ANTant(a)zimage.com writes: >Hello, >Electricity is sure getting expensive these days, especially during the summer time ($500 per month!). I would >like to see if I can keep my little 24 hours/7 days Linux desktop/workstation (also acts like a private server, >so I can ssh/VNC in from outside) from using a lot of power/electrcity when in idled mode. Currently, I told >xscreensaver (using xmatrix at slow rate -- loved the first two Matrix movies!) to put my monitor to sleep and >shut down after an hour and two hours. I do not use those 3D screen savers since they hog my 3D card and CPU, and >my room gets too warm easily. Shut off your screen. It draws the most power. And for remote access you or your computer does not care. Switch off you scanner and printer when not in use. Your computer itself when running idle will use maybe 40 watts or power. In a month that is about 30 Kwhr at $.1 per KWHr, that is $3. Ie, I would suggest searching elsewhere for your biggest savings on electricity. ( relace all light bulbs with flourescent-- remember that even one flourescent bulb draws about as much power as a computer, and one incandescent a lot more. ) Switch off your airconditioner, buy a better fridge and dishwasher. >Is there anything else to cool down? Should I really spin my HDDs down (is that a good idea and is it slow to >spin up if I need it?). I heard about athcool utility, but it sounds scary since it can cause problems, data >losses, etc. I really don't have the time to mess with it and deal with any problems that it might cause. >I think in my BIOS, I turned off ACPI(?) and APM. Do I need these enabled? How can I check if I have the required >components installed in my Debian and what do I need (apt-get install). FYI, here is my sensors -f during mostly >idled and using the box via SSH: >$ sensors -f >w83697hf-isa-0290 >Adapter: ISA adapter >VCore: +1.63 V (min = +1.71 V, max = +1.89 V) ALARM >+3.3V: +3.25 V (min = +3.14 V, max = +3.47 V) >+5V: +4.97 V (min = +4.76 V, max = +5.24 V) >+12V: +12.04 V (min = +10.82 V, max = +13.19 V) >-12V: -11.87 V (min = -13.18 V, max = -10.80 V) >-5V: +3.49 V (min = -5.25 V, max = -4.75 V) ALARM >V5SB: +5.43 V (min = +4.76 V, max = +5.24 V) ALARM >VBat: +3.54 V (min = +2.40 V, max = +3.60 V) >fan1: 0 RPM (min = 10546 RPM, div = 2) ALARM >fan2: 2311 RPM (min = 1662 RPM, div = 4) >temp1: +100 F (high = +212 F, hyst = +32 F) sensor = thermistor >temp2: +129.2 F (high = +176 F, hyst = +167 F) sensor = thermistor >alarms: Chassis intrusion detection ALARM >beep_enable: > Sound alarm enabled >My detailed computer specifications can be found here: http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm/about/computers.txt >(secondary/backup computer). I also tried not to have too much stuff in my PC case. The only extra thing is I >have is NIC since I don't trust the onboard VIA NIC. :) >Thank you in advance. >-- >"The ants sought personal revenge for my having sprayed them the day before." --Oliver Smith > /\___/\ > / /\ /\ \ Phillip (Ant) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site) >| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net > \ _ / Please remove ANT if replying by e-mail. > ( )
From: ANTant on 31 Oct 2006 17:12
In comp.os.linux.misc Michael Black <et472(a)freenet.carleton.ca> wrote: > (ANTant(a)zimage.com) writes: > > Hello, > > > > Electricity is sure getting expensive these days, especially during the summer time ($500 per month!). I would > > like to see if I can keep my little 24 hours/7 days Linux desktop/workstation (also acts like a private server, > > so I can ssh/VNC in from outside) from using a lot of power/electrcity when in idled mode. Currently, I told > > xscreensaver (using xmatrix at slow rate -- loved the first two Matrix movies!) to put my monitor to sleep and > > shut down after an hour and two hours. I do not use those 3D screen savers since they hog my 3D card and CPU, and > > my room gets too warm easily. > Figure out what is using up so much power, and address those issues. > If your power is higher in the summer, then surely it's air conditioning, > and if you cut that back, it would do more than fiddling with a computer. Yeah, it is but even without AC, still expensive. > Change the lights to compact flourescent bulbs, especially lights left > on a lot, so their drain is down. True. > Switch off the monitor when it's not being used, because then you > are eliminating a drain that isn't necessary. Yes, I do this when I am not near by or at home. > Learn about wattage, so you can see what's using the power rather than > think your computer is the big drain. > Small reductions won't make a difference, unless you have a house really > lit up with loads of equipment on all the time in every room. Ah, darn. I thought my box would be hogging a lot since it uses a 350 watts PSU. Not sure how many watts my box goes up to when in idled and heavy usage (e.g., compilation, Google Earth, etc.). -- "The ants sought personal revenge for my having sprayed them the day before." --Oliver Smith /\___/\ / /\ /\ \ Phillip (Ant) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx (Personal Web Site) | |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net \ _ / Please remove ANT if replying by e-mail. ( ) |